[1] Anahat Singh (Ind) 3-2 Joshna Chinappa (Ind) 11-8, 11-13, 11-9, 6-11, 11-9 (55m)
[3] Mohamad Zakaria (Egy) 3-1 [1] Youssef Soliman (Egy) 11-3, 6-11, 2-0 rtd (47m
Teenagers Zakari and Singh clain the titles in Indore
Teenage stars Mohamad Zakaria and Anahat Singh won the Daly College SRFI Indian Open titles, beating Youssef Soliman and Joshna Chinappa in contrasting matches on finals day in Indore.
Both finals were being contested between players from the same countries, with Egyptian duo Zakaria and Soliman contesting the men’s showdown, while Indian pair Singh and Chinappa went head-to-head on home soil.
Singh and Chinappa are separated by 22 years in age, but there was almost nothing between them on court as they produced a classic final that was fit for the occasion. Victory for Singh secured her a 13th PSA Tour title in just her 20th PSA event, capping off an impressive few weeks after beating Tinne Gilis in Canada last month.
Zakaria and Soliman were separated by just a single place in the world rankings going into the contest. Zakaria had won the pair’s last encounter 3-0 and he made an impressive start but after levelling at one-all Soliman was forced off court for an injury break, but played only one more point before conceding the match.
“It’s definitely not how I wanted to win,” Zakaria said. “But I put a solid week together, and I’m happy to win my first Silver. Going into a final not dropping a game gives me an edge, knowing that he has the pressure to draw first blood, it gives me confidence, and I like to be like that every match.”
Semis : All-Egyptian and all-Indian finals set up in Indore
The men’s Silver final in Indore will be an all-Egyptian affair after wins for top seed Youssef Soliman and world junior champion Mohamad Zakaria, while the Women’s challenger final will be all-Indian with top seed Anahat Singh meeting veteran Joshna Chinappa.
Quarters : India’s men bow out in Indore
There was no joy for home favourites Ramit Tandon and Velevan Senthilkumar as they bowed out to Egyptian opponents at the quarter-final stage, Tandon losing a five game thriller to top seed Youssef Soliman, Senthilkimar beaten by world junior champ Mohamed Zakaria in three lengthy games.
The other men’s matches both saw seeding upsets as Switzerland’s Yannick Wilhelmi and Egypt’s Yahya Elnawasany downed fourth and second seeds Sebastien Bonmalais and Eain Yow Ng.
Home hopes are still alive in the women’s event though, with rising star Anahat Singh and veteran Joshna Chinappa reaching the semi-finals.
Round Two
Velavan Senthilkumar knocked out sixth seed Bernat Jaume on day two, after Yannick Wilhelmi had produced an impressive display to beat Indian #1 Abhay Singh earlier in the day.
World #47 Senthilkumar – India’s #3 – stepped onto the all-glass court looking to avoid a second successive defeat for an Indian player in the evening session at Daly College, after Singh’s loss to Wilhelmi in the previous match.
Senthilkumar was joined in the last eight by Indian #2 Ramit Tandon, who came through a hard-fought battle with England’s Sam Osborne-Wylde in final match of the day, but there will be no spot for the host nation’s highest-ranked men’s player, Singh.
The 27-year-old was the fifth seed for this event and has enjoyed a strong season so far, recently reaching a new career-high ranking of #26 in the world, but he was outplayed from start to finish by Wilhelmi here.
There was, however, more Indian joy in the women’s event, where Joshna Chinappa came from behind to beat rising star Lauren Baltayan 3-1, while Tanvi Khanna and top seed Anahat Singh also progressed.
